Saturday, October 29, 2011

So Honored

I am very excited, & also very honored, that my "You Will Fly" layout was chosen on the "Lifting You" feature over at the Scrapbook Circle blog. They choose members' layouts from Facebook page, & some of the design team members scaplift them. My layout was chosen on Monday!! If you want to check out the feature, or read more on the blog, you can check it out here:  http://www.scrapbookcircle.com/2011/10/lifting-you-stephanie.

And if you don't subscribe to SC's kits, you really should consider it! They are filled with fabulous papers & products!!
Enjoy your Saturday afternoon. It's a cold & rainy one here-the perfect day for crafting!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Get Picky Blog Hop

Get Picky is having a blog hop to commemorate their first birthday!! You can check out all the details here:  http://getpicky.blogspot.com/2011/10/birthday-blog-hop.html. The sketch that is currently up on their blog is part of their blog hop & was super fun to play along with!! Here is the great sketch:  
And here is my layout. I used the October kit from Scrapbook Circle. The background paper is Lily Bee (I love it!); the yellow paper is Crate Paper; the newsprint paper is also Lily Bee; & the alphas are American Crafts Thickers-just found them at a local craft store & they are my new fave!!!






This is a layout of Ty with our sweet dog Lukey who was his best buddy! Unfortunately, we lost him to cancer almost 2 years ago. I am so thankful that we have lots of pictures of him & the kids together, & Ty remembers him.

If you get a chance, check out the Get Picky blog & play along!! There's so much fun going on!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Pencil Lines Sketch

Just posting the latest layout I completed using the Pencil Lines sketch #253. Here is the sketch by Carina Lindholm. I loved it & knew immediately I had to play along!!  Sk253 And here is my layout:
The gray polkadot paper is American Crafts by Amy Tangerine; the taupe chipboard flower, "happy girl", & "sugar & spice" sticker are all from Crate Paper; the date journal spot is from Elle's Studio & the "stinkin' cute" sticker is also from Crate. I used my Red Velvet mist to spray the white doilies.
Thanks for stopping by! 

Monday, October 24, 2011

Beach Trip

We took a quick trip to the beach last week. We left Wednesday afternoon & came home Friday night (yes, I took the kids out of school)! The kids were so excited! We never made it to the beach over the summer, & while it's not quite the same at this time of year, we had a great, & relaxing time. We ate out; the kids played & ran on the beach; we rented a bike a rode on the boardwalk; we went to the aquarium. Ty was overly excited to see the sharks & the sting rays! But when the opportunity arose to pet a sting ray, he wanted no part of it!!
Our weekend jaunt inspired me to scrap some older beach photos. Here is the result:


I used the September kit from Scrapbook Circle. I love what Amy Tan has created with American Crafts! The map & blue grid papers are from AC. The dot paper is from Basic Grey & was in SC's August kit. I used my EK Success swiss dot punch down the sides of both border papers. All in all, this is a pretty simple page. Glad I got some scrapping done from our beach trip that we took
to Marco Island, FL (over 2 years ago)!  
Have a great evening!
-Stephanie  

Friday, October 14, 2011

Fall Decor

My kids love Fall & Halloween! In fact, they get more excited about decorating the house for Halloween than they do Christmas! (I am the opposite!) We have a small collection of outdoor Halloween decorations, but not too much for inside the house.
I had seen these paper pumpkins in the October issue of Scrapbooks Etc. & wanted to give them a try. They looked pretty easy (& they really were)! 
I started with a small piece of solid orange cardstock (it was actually in my scrap pile) to make the small pumpkin. I also grabbed a piece of 12x12 patterned paper to make the large pumpkin. *Note*try to use heavier cardstock or paper. It will stand up much better!
Start by cutting your paper into equal-sized strips. I used 1 inch strips. Glue the first two strips together end to end. Pull them up & glue the opposite ends together. Continue doing this to form a pumpkin shape.


  When all the strips are together, you can glue a bow on top & stack some buttons to form a "stem". Voila! Now you have a quick & inexpensive Fall decoration!
Hope you enjoyed!
-Stephanie

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Thank you, ST!

I wanted to say thanks to Sketchy Thursdays for choosing my "Autumn" layout as one of their favorites this week! What an honor!! I was thrilled to see the blogpost this morning. Now I am proudly displaying the "fave" badge!!

-Stephanie

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Autumn

So this is the layout that I did using this week's sketch from Sketchy Thursdays. I used a lot of what was in my stash & laying at my finger tips on my desk. The honeycomb paper is from Echo Park; I created a banner using scrap papers; the border sticker above the banner is from Crate Paper; the 2 card paper is also from CP. I sprinkled on some ink after the page was all put together & -voila! Another completed page with older photos!! They are from October 2009 from our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. (I am really far behind!)






We took the kids last Saturday to the pumpkin patch & it was wonderful! We got really good pumpkins & had a great time. No major meltdowns or fights! And the kids decided to dress alike on their own-ha!Good weather + well-behaved kids= the perfect day at the patch!    

These are some of my favorite photos from the day:






Good night all!
-Stephanie

Monday, October 10, 2011

A to Z Facts

I have seen this on a few blogs now & thought it would be fun to do! And just in case anyone is reading this & was really curious about what x-rays I have had-ha!!!

Here we go:

A. Age: 38
B. Bed: Queen ( & not big enough)
C. Chore that you hate: mopping
D. Dogs: absolutely! Nellie & Beau
E. Essential start to your day: hot tea (when the mornings are cold)
F. Favorite color: red
G. Gold or silver: silver (but I have a gold wedding band)
H. Home: lucky enough to own   
I. Instruments you play: none, but I can belt out some shower tunes!
J. Job title: stay-at-home mom
K. Kids: 2-ages 8 & 4
L. Live: Richmond, VA
M. Motehr's Name: Lorine
N. Nicknames: Stevi, Wessie, Steph
O. Overnight hospital stays: 3
P. Pet peeves: so many!!
Q. Quote from movie: "You want the truth? You can't handle  the truth!"
R. Right or left handed: right
S. Siblings: 2 brothers & 1 sister
T. Television: I watch 2 shows religiously-Modern Family & Grey's Anatomy 
U. Underwear: I wear them everyday (& clean ones too!)
V. Vegetable you hate: collard greens 
W. What makes you run late: kids
X. X-rays: spleen, teeth
Y. Yummy food that you make: sundried tomato chicken
Z. Zoo animal: chimpanzee

Hope you enjoyed this!
-Stephanie

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Celebrate 7

I did this  layout for the inspiration challenge at Get Picky. This is my daughter's 7th birthday (she'll be 9 in 2 months)!
I used the Amy Tangerine by American Crafts papers from Scrapbook Circle's September kit. The embellishments were found laying on my desk-some My Mind's Eye label stickers; Studio Calico Notions; October Afternoon "seven" card; Sassafrass stickers.


Love when I can get some older photos scrapped. The Get Picky challenge helped me do just that!!
-Stephanie    

Grateful

I wanted to write about how grateful I am to be a stay-at-home mom. Yes, some days I wonder if I have lost my mind, or will lose it before my kids are grown! But, as hard as being a mom is, there is no other place that I would rather be than at home watching & helping my children grow.
Yesterday was Ty's class field trip to the fire station & I was lucky enough to attend. I love that I have been blessed enough to be involved in their activities. Even though we have forfeited my salary & many extras along the way, I feel like I (& the kids) have gained something that money could never buy. And with this being Ty's last year of pre-school, I have been thinking lately about how grateful I am that we made the decision for me to be at home with the kids. I look at all the events & milestones throughout the years that I could have missed & realize how irreplaceable they are. Seeing the smile on my child's face when I walk into their classroom or meet them at school for lunch is something that will remain in my heart always, & hopefully in their's also.
My babies are growing up & that I can not stop. I am just so thankful that I have seen as much of their growing as possible!

This is a page that I did about Ty's first day of pre-school (September 2008). It seems like just yesterday!!
Time sure does fly!
-Stephanie

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Fall is in the Air

This weekend really felt like Fall here! And I loved every minute of it! Fall & Spring are my favorite seasons. And the month of October is usually pretty busy for us. There are a lot of activities happening around town, plus we like to go to the mountains & go apple picking.
This weekend we took the kids to the Va Museum of Fine Arts for their family fun day. The kids made lanterns & decorated Egyptian collars & cuffs. It was a fun event for them (& it was FREE)! After that, we made our way down to Libbie Hill Park for "Hogtoberfest". It was a gorgeous day to be outside & the kids had fun playing games & rolling down a huge hill!!
I am so excited that the days are cooler, the colors outside are starting to pop, & there is always so much to do! Before I know it though, it will be time to decorate for Christmas (can't wait for that either)!!!!
See ya'll!





-Stephanie